The 27-year-old Glasgow Warriors flanker has been capped nine times for Scotland, but has not appeared in international colours since November 2004.

He spent 15 months on the sidelines with a serious knee injury but is now considered ready for a return to international duty.

The only uncapped player going to South Africa will be Sam Pinder, who travels in place of injured Chris Cusiter as back-up for first-choice scrum-half Mike Blair.

Rob Dewey, the 22-year-old Edinburgh centre who has missed most of this season with a recurring shoulder injury, will travel with the squad.

He is expected to continue his rehabilitation rather than play in any of the games.

Head coach Frank Hadden is willing to look south of the border for players and admits he considered everybody with a Scottish granny before naming his 25-man squad.

Hadden said: It is something we consider. In terms of developing players, it is not a bad thing for some guys to be playing in England, but in terms of what we want to achieve for the national side it is better to have more of the guys home-based.

Its not Fortress Scotland.

It is just one of the many factors that come into play, added Hadden, especially when you are talking about guys of similar ability."

Rory Lawson, who leaves Edinburgh Gunners this summer for Gloucester, has been named as captain of a 28-strong Scotland A squad who will compete in the Churchill Cup in Canada, also at the start of June.

Another factor was that Sam has started a lot more rugby matches than Rory has this year, so going to Canada provides a great opportunity for Rory to go somewhere as a number one scrum-half and prove that he has got what it takes at the next level.

In selection it is never a straightforward case of saying this guy is better than that guy.

"You have to consider the balance of the team, and all sorts of other factors that come into play.

Then there is also the thought that in 12 months time we have got a really big occasion in the shape of the World Cup. We want to be in the best possible shape for that.

With 52 players to be chosen there has been a huge amount of selecting going on over the last couple of months.

We dont just sit down for an hour to decide what we are going to do - there are always a number of discussions that go on between myself and other coaches, so it is a continuous thing. And trust me, everybody with a Scottish granny was considered for selection.

Scotland squad to play Barbarians at Murrayfield on May 31 and for the two-Test tour of South Africa this summer:

Backs: M Blair (Edinburgh Gunners), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh Gunners), A Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Northampton Saints), B MacDougall (Border Reivers), D Parks (Glasgow Warriors), C Paterson (Edinburgh Gunners), S Pinder (Glasgow Warriors), G Ross (Leeds Tykes), H Southwell (Edinburgh Gunners), S Webster (Edinburgh Gunners)

Forwards: K Brown (Border Reivers), B Douglas (Border Reivers), D Hall (Edinburgh Gunners), N Hines (Perpignan), A Hogg (Edinburgh Gunners), A Kellock (Edinburgh Gunners), G Kerr (Leeds Tykes), S Lawson (Glasgow Warriors), D Macfadyen (Glasgow Warriors), S MacLeod (Border Reivers), S Murray (Edinburgh Gunners), J Petrie (Glasgow Warriors), C Smith (Edinburgh Gunners), J White (Sale Sharks, capt).